


i know, i know life can be beautiful (i pray, i pray for a better way)

by ClumsyBookworm18



Category: Heathers (1988), Until Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Heathers Fusion, Alternate Universe - High School, Dark Comedy, F/M, Gun Violence, Murder, Romance, Slushies, Suicide, Teen Angst, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-19
Updated: 2020-02-19
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:54:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22796620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClumsyBookworm18/pseuds/ClumsyBookworm18
Summary: Dear Diary, being popular sucks when you hate your friends.Sam Giddings is sick of being part of the snobbiest clique of her school, making fun of her childhood friend and outcast, and doing stupid lunch polls she’ll never get used to. So when she finds herself attracted to a dark and quirky newcomer that proposes a way to get rid of the popular elite, Sam doesn’t hesitate to agree. That is, until her teen angst bullshit gains a body count.AKA the Heathers AU
Relationships: Ashley Brown/Chris Hartley, Emily Davis & Sam Giddings, Sam Giddings/Josh Washington
Comments: 13
Kudos: 24





	i know, i know life can be beautiful (i pray, i pray for a better way)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After posting some moodboards on tumblr for this AU ages ago, I finally decided to write it instead of working on my other WIPs because I have no self control whatsoever ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> Also, I blame @queenofbaws and every Heathers reference she made in her story [The (Almost)s](%E2%80%9D) for spurring this.
> 
> So, uh, enjoy I guess???

_Dear Diary,_

_Emily told me she teaches people Real Life. She said Real Life sucks losers dry. If you want to fuck with the eagles you have to learn to fly. I said so you teach people how to spread their wings and fly. She said yes. I said-_

A sudden nudge on her shoulder sent the pen skittering across her swirly handwriting, a trail of blue ink spilling over the written words, ruining the page.

“ _Sam_ ,” came Jessica’s bubbly voice, dragging the _a_. It was annoying.

Sam closed her diary with a loud _pop_ and turned to the trendy blonde, narrowing her eyes at her from where she’s sitting on the bottom of the stairs. “What is your _damage_ , Jess? You ruined my-”

“Whatever,” Jess cut her off, rolling her eyes and flipping her perfectly styled hair over her shoulder. “Emily sent us to haul your ass into the caf _pronto_ . And we’re not gonna wait around for you to finish writing in your _diary._ Right Ashley?”

The redhead in question emerged from behind her, clutching a tattered copy of _Moby Dick_ to her chest. “Yeah. She really wants to talk to you.”

_Oh god, what now?_

Sam raised her hands in defeat. “Okay, fine. I’m going. I’m going. Jeez.” She picked up her stuff, letting the girls drag her into the lunchroom chaos.

The cafeteria was alive with meaningless chatter. Students sat in tables divided by social groups: the nerds, the jocks, the preps, the rebels, the hippies, the stoners. There was an established social order and everybody submitted to their roles perfectly. At the top of the chain was _her_ group- the Mean Girls. They ruled the school with an iron fist. They were solid Teflon. Beautiful. Untouchable. Unattainable. Never bothered. Never harassed.

Emily was standing in the middle of it all, waiting for them, overseeing her kingdom like the cruel queen that she is. She was the mythic bitch. With a closet that consisted entirely of designer clothes, she was always impeccably dressed, everyday her black hair was styled flawlessly, and a cruel smirk was never missing from her red lips. 

She was stunning.

“Hey Emily,” Sam greeted her with a fake smile. “You wanted to see me?”

She didn’t bother with any pleasantries. “I need you to write something for me.” Straight to the point, as always.

And hoo boy, Sam knew that look. Somebody was getting screwed over. 

“I want you to forge a love letter in Ashley’s handwriting so we can slip it into your loser friend’s lunch tray,” she said, jerking her chin towards the corner of the cafeteria.

Sam blinked. She didn’t even bother looking to where Emily was pointing at to know who she was talking about. “Chris?” she asked, brows knotting. “But I don’t have anything against him.”

“But you don’t have anything _for_ him either,” Emily pointed out, crossing her arms. She threw her an icy look. “Is this going to be a problem?”

“Chris is a good guy! Just because he isn’t popular doesn’t mean he deserves this.” 

“Oh no, it’s the fun police,” Jess muttered, rolling her eyes.

Sam knew she was treading on thin ice, but she couldn’t help pleading her case. It wasn’t that she was afraid of Emily per say, but was rather in awe of the control and power she had. “Come on, Em, we’re bigger than this.”

Emily’s face smoothed into lethal calm. “I think you’re forgetting, Samantha, how quickly I can make your life a living hell. Now stop pulling on my dick and write the goddamn note. Or Hartley won’t be the only joke today.” 

She said it so mildly that her not so veiled threat took a second to register. 

Sam gave Ashley a look that said ‘ _And you’re okay with this?_ ’ but the redhead didn’t want to meet her stare. 

Sam tried not to judge, she really did. She knew as well as Ashley that in this hell that was their high school, it was eat or be eaten- and if you cross Emily, you would pay dearly. Thanks to her natural talent for forging handwriting, she belonged to the group that did the eating. But being part of the most popular clique of the school wasn’t as easy as it sounded. And Sam had sold her soul to the Devil the moment she decided to become part of it. 

Sam grabbed her pen with a resigned sigh. _Just one more year,_ she thought. _I just have to make it through this year and then I’ll never have to see these people_ **_ever_ ** _again._

Knowing she had won, Emily straightened her back and smirked. “Splendid. I’ll dictate. But first, you’ll need something to write on.” She made a motion with her hand at Ashley. “Bend over.” 

The order was cruel, with no room for discussion. 

The Ashley frowned and pointed at a nearby table, “But there’s a free table over the-”

“I don’t care,” Emily said snottily. “Bend over.”

Sam gave Ashley a sympathetic look when she came in front of her and did as she was told.

“Dear Chris...” Emily started.

Sam wasted no time to start scribbling in her notebook with Ashley’s cursive scrawl. She already knew all of her friends’ handwriting by heart so she didn’t need Ashley’s notes to imitate it. When she was finished, Sam ripped the page from her notebook and gave it to Emily for inspection, who nodded in approval and handed it over to Jess. “You know what to do.”

Jess grinned, eager to comply, and started heading over to where Chris was sitting. The three pairs of eyes followed their friend’s movements, different expressions on each of the girls’ faces. Emily’s with her trademark cruel smile, Ashley’s with a nervous look, and Sam’s with a guilty expression. She took her eyes off of Jess and looked over to Chris’s usual spot over at the corner of the cafeteria. 

That was when she saw him.

Everything about the stranger radiated confidence and ease. Sam had never seen him before- a new student, no doubt. He was handsome, for sure. Golden brown skin, dark curls, strong jaw. He wore a black trench coat that made it difficult for him to go unnoticed but it seemed like he couldn’t care less about his unusual fashion choices. The boy leaned back in his chair, Chris talking animatedly while he listened.

“His name is Josh Washington,” Ashley said, startling her. “I take a couple of classes with him. He’s a weirdo but charming enough.”

Sam couldn’t help herself. She let her eyes wander back over to his table. At that same moment he turned his head, his eyes snapping to hers. 

Sam’s heart hammered in her chest as those green eyes connected with hers. He raised an eyebrow, amusement glinting in his eyes as he caught her gawking at him. She quickly looked away, and noticed that Jess was making her way back to their table, meaning she had delivered the note.

“All done,” she announced with a triumphant smile on her face, happy to have pleased her best friend.

Sam felt her mood sour at the news. This didn’t go unnoticed by Emily. “You wanted to become a member of the most powerful clique in the school,” she told Sam, her tone condescending. Sam hates it. She hates Emily, hates this game she’s been forced to play, hates to pretend she’s someone she’s not, but mostly, she hates that Emily’s right- she _did_ ask for this. She wanted to be part of the school’s elite and now she was paying the consequences. “If I wasn't already the head of it, I'd want the same thing.”

Oh, she had had _enough_. Ignoring the curious heads that swiveled her way, she collected her things, turned on her heels and left.

Emily rolled her eyes at her friend’s antics. “You know, you used to have a sense of humor,” she called after her.

Sam ignored her and kept walking, unaware of the curious pair of eyes that followed her exit.

***

She’d deal with Emily later, Sam decided as she entered the courtyard. She may have overreacted but she wanted to leave the cafeteria before anything happened- didn’t want to see the consequences of her cruelty. It was the coward’s way out, she knows, but Sam couldn’t stand staying there and watch as Chris’s heart shatters when he realizes the note didn’t really come from Ashley. 

It made her sick just to think about it.

Chris was going to hate her. When he finds out she wrote that note, he was going to hate her and rightfully so. Sam wouldn’t blame him. They’ve been friends since they were in kindergarten for Pete’s sake and she just easily traded him for a bunch of swatchdogs and diet cokeheads. She had betrayed him, betrayed his trust, played with his feelings. _And for what?_ So she could be popular? Be on top of a pointless high school hierarchy that wouldn’t matter after she left for college?

_Shit._

Scanning the open courtyard and she spotted a lonely bench beneath the trees. The perfect spot to be alone with her terrible thoughts and self loathing. She made her way towards the bench, got herself comfortable and opened her diary. Before she knew it, her pen was lazily swaying across her diary page.

_Dear Diary,_

_There was a time when I was actually a decent human being. A good person. A much simpler, innocent time. Now I just look at who I’ve become and ask myself ‘what happened?’_

Out of nowhere a paper ball landed in the middle of her open diary, breaking her out of her trance. What was it with people today not letting her finish her diary entries in peace?

Sam frowned at the parchment and opened it, smoothing out the wrinkled edges. Ashley’s writing- no, _her_ writing stared back at her. It was the forged note Emily made her write earlier. But how _-_

“You shouldn’t have bowed down to Alpha Bitch back there.”

Sam whirled, her hand flying to her chest. It was him. The new kid- Josh. He was leaning against the tree behind her, hands into his pockets. She wasn’t sure if her racing heartbeat was due to her startled state or to his presence. Maybe both. “What?” 

He took out a cigarette, placing it in his pursed lips and lit it before stalking towards her, his movements nonchalant. Within moments the stench of smoke filled the air, infiltrating her lungs. She watched as he took a long drag and exhaled it, the smoke coming out of his mouth and nostrils before disappearing into the open air. 

He offered her the cigarette, lifting his shoulder in half a shrug when she refused. “That note would’ve crushed him. Lucky for Chris I grabbed it before he noticed anything,” he said, watching the relief on her face as she realized she didn’t break his new friend’s heart today. “You seem like you know better.”

Sam stiffened. “Excuse me?”

“You’ve clearly got a soul. You just need to work a little harder at keeping it clean.” The corners of his mouth turned up. “We are all born marked for evil.” 

His eyes met hers, stark and clear, as if they could stare right into her soul, her very essence. She sucked in a breath and looked away, the intensity of his gaze overwhelming her. 

He took another puff of his cigarette. “You aren’t like them. You’re different.”

"You don't know _anything_ about me. Or us," she snapped, bristling at his arrogance. 

Just who does this guy think he _is_ ? Does he think he can just barge in, quote Baudelaire and _judge_ her? Nu-uh. Not gonna happen. She already took enough shit from her conscience. Sam didn’t know why she was defending the rest of her group, since they could clearly be labeled as the worst people in the school, but she wasn’t about to back down now.

His sensuous lips curved into a cold, knowing smile. "I've been to seven schools in seven states and so far, the only thing _different_ is my locker combination." Josh took one last drag, throwing what was left of the cigarette on the ground and stomped it with his boot. “Enjoy the rest of lunch, then. Try to stay out of trouble.” And although his face was serious, the way his eyes gleamed told her that staying out of trouble meant staying far away from _him._ With that he left, leaving her gaping after his retreating form.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thoughts?


End file.
